Enrollment at CF better than predicted

Sunday

Sep 1, 2013 at 6:00 AM

The College of Central Florida's fall enrollment declined by less than 1 percent — much less than administrators had expected.

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

The College of Central Florida's fall enrollment declined by less than 1 percent — much less than administrators had expected.Planning for the worst, CF's financial team planned for a 5 percent decrease in full-time equivalency (FTE) enrollment for 2013-14.CF also created a contingency fund of $1 million just in case the shortfall topped the 5 percent threshold like it did in 2012-13, when FTE fell by 8 percent.Since the year just began on July 1 (that's the fiscal year; classes started on Aug. 19), officials warn that FTE enrollment could change by year's end on June 30.Still, President James Henningsen is hopeful the better-than-expected fall enrollment numbers mean the decline has leveled off.“We may have reached the bottom (of the decline),” Henningsen said. “Fall term is a great predictor of how it will be in the spring.”CF's fall head count fell only 43 since 2012, from 8,519 to 8,476.CF hit a record high enrollment of 9,049 actual students in fall 2011 — a 40 percent increase in four years.CF's summer enrollment was down 2.5 percent, the fifth consecutive term that enrollment dropped. But that decline was half what officials had estimated.Henningsen attributes the early stabilization to CF developing new marketing strategies to attract more students, the addition of the $10,000 bachelor's degree program and adding more classes that students want.Such “demand” classes include anatomy and physiology, biology, general education certificate program, and English and communication.In January 2011, CF first began offering bachelor's degrees in business and organizational management, with concentrations in agribusiness management, health care management, management information systems and public safety administration.Last fall, CF began offering bachelor's degrees in early childhood education, specifically prekindergarten through third grade.Beginning this fall, CF is offering a bachelor's degree of applied science in business and organizational management for $10,000 — $2,500 annually.Gov. Rick Scott challenged all of the state colleges to offer a bachelor's degree for $10,000. Students pay the first $10,000 and CF will cover the balance.Officials said the bachelor's degree programs have exploded. FTE enrollment in those courses has grown by 32 percent since fall 2012 — that's 120 more students enrolled in the programs since last fall.On a recent day on the third floor of the Ewers Century Center, the glass-centerpiece building along College Road, about 15 students attended a business communication class.Adjunct professor Joyce Fabian helps teach the course with fellow adjunct Anna Williams. The course is one of three that Fabian teaches.Fabian also teaches a class called “Internship,” which is a course within the business bachelor's degree program. Students in that class work 120 hours with a local company. They also have some class work, like interviewing Marion County executives for a project.“We're here to help students prepare for their work life,” she said moments before she addressed a project management class for a few minutes.Fabian said that when she started at CF more than three years ago, the typical student was a laid-off worker. Today, Fabian said, “there's more of a mix” of students, young and old.In 2012-13, the average age of a CF student was 29.9 — with 25 percent of those 35 or older.This year, 53 percent of CF students are between the ages of 18 and 24. Among them is Austin Branca, 19, a 2012 Lecanto High grad.After nearly a year studying at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa, Branca decided to ditch that professional goal and follow his love of automobile mechanics.Branca said his grandfather was a mechanic in the U.S. Army. Branca now wants to get his associate degree and become Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified.“My goal is to get a job with Ford,” he said.CF's 2013-14 budget ended up at $37 million — $2.4 million less than 2012-13's record budget of $39.4 million.In response to the anticipated shortfall, CF laid off 11 people and chose not to fill 17 vacant positions.The budget also included adding $1 million more in the reserve fund for emergencies, such as storm recovery.CF officials say an improving economy has led more people back to work and out of college classrooms. As the economy grows, more students are working and taking fewer classes. Statewide enrollment has declined by more than 5 percent in the past year.Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him of Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.